Tralfaz

Author: geoffand

  • Mexican Vacation – The Trip Down

    Mexican Vacation – The Trip Down

    We have had a long open invitation to visit one of my wife’s friends who retired to San Felipe, Baja California, but the timing never worked out, so we begged off. But with recent life changes, we had no excuse remaining, so last week we visited the Crawford’s in San Felipe.

    The trip down was uneventful. We split the drive into two days, stopping in Palm Desert as a good stopping point. The second day, we needed to knock around until our hosts picked us up in El Centro, so we went down by the Salton Sea. I had never been there (or if I had, I was too young to remember) but had flown over it about a million times. (more…)

  • The Joy of Travel

    The Joy of Travel

    For the last week, I have been pretty much offline, enjoying the sun, surf, and unlimited outdoor enjoyment offered by San Felipe, Mexico. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and we are back over the border, and headed for home.

    Instead of our usual slog through the LA Basin, we grabbed 215 to 15 to 395 to 58 and came in to Bakersfield via Victor Valley and the Tehachapi Pass. A much more pleasant drive, albeit longer.

    Our plan was to crash for the night at the truck area at the junction of I5 and 58. A known distance from home, it makes for an easy 3 hour drive back home.

    There are several hotels there (well, now I think there are only 2) and we really didn’t care for extravagant, just cheap and clean. (more…)

  • Guilty Pleasure – Milla Jovovich movies

    Guilty Pleasure – Milla Jovovich movies

    I can admit that there is something about scifi movies with Milla Jovovich kicking ass that I just enjoy watching.

    Multipass

    My first exposure was with the SciFi comedy “5th Element” a movie that I have watched probably 100 times, and to this day think is probably Luke Perry’s finest acting ever, it is a thoroughly enjoyable romp. Many memorable lines in the movie, starring Bruce Willis, Ian Holm, as well as Gary Oldman as the bad guy.

    Who can forget the epic line: “Multipass”?  Geeks everywhere get the reference.

    This catapulted her career as a kick-ass protagonist in the genre.

    Following The Fifth Element comes the slick production of Ultraviolet, where she again just reigns supreme. The premise being: (more…)

  • Late to the Party – The Sopranos

    Late to the Party – The Sopranos

    I just started watching The Sopranos. Yeah, I am lame. Of course I heard all the raving and wonderful reviews, but I didn’t have HBO, and I never rented the DVD’s.

    Now, with the Roamio, I have connected both my Netflix account and my Amazon Prime account for streaming. The Amazon app recommended “The Sopranos.”

    I am hooked, about to start the 5th episode of the first season, and it is intoxicating.

    It is also good to see all the actors from Goodfella’s getting some more work.

    Yeah, I know how it ends, but it has been long enough since it originally aired, I can really enjoy it.

    The first episode wasn’t quite enough to capture my attention, but it has grown on me.

     

  • Tivo Roamio Review

    Tivo Roamio Review

    A shocking admission is that I was not an early adopter of DVR technology. I was certainly aware of the products, and the capabilities, but for some reason, I didn’t take the plunge until they had matured.

    The early leader, Tivo wasn’t even my first DVR, but instead, since I had Dish network, I got their bundled DVR, and was satisfied.

    It wasn’t until we relocated to Arizona when we “splurged” on a Series 2 Tivo. The UI was intuitive, the way of finding programming was impeccable, and the integrated guide was a wonderful experience. We were hooked.

    In 2006, we took the plunge, and went HD, with the purchase of an excellent Pioneer Plasma display, and a Series 3 HD Tivo. Cox cablecards, and we were in HD heaven. With one failure of the box (replace under warranty), and a HD swap when the original drive failed (thanks to Weaknees) 10 years later it was still going strong. (more…)

  • Remembering Dad – Sailing

    Continuing in the remembrances theme, today I will share my recollections of sailing. My dad was an avid sailor, as in the wind and sails sailing, not power boating.

    Day Sailer, very similar to my memoryMy earliest recollections were fuzzy drives to the Palo Alto Yacht Club where my dad kept his boat(s), and times with the tides, sailing around the south bay, viewing the sloughs, and the various other sights from the water’s edge.

    I remember post sailing running around the board ways, the plan alleys, and the buildings of the Yacht Club while dad was doing the analogy to the 19th whole in golf.

    I remember the canteen in the club house, and the occasional hamburger that was purchased for me. Frozen patty, glue like bun, and mustard and pickles topping. To my 5 year old self, that was indeed a special day. (more…)

  • Roses in our Yard

    Roses in our Yard

    Upon moving into our new house last year, we knew there was work to do to the back yard. As I mentioned in earlier blogs, the yard was a mess when we bought it. It was clear that the owners spent nothing to maintain, let alone spruce up the house, and the yard was a dump. We quickly engaged the neighbor who runs a landscape business to clean it up, but it took almost a year to get to a good state.

    ground eye view of our rosesWe did replace the two fences that were about to fall down, and fixed the part of the yard that never dried up, but we needed a little color.

    There were several rose bushes along the back fence, and we added a few to fill in the gaps. One thing about roses, and one of the key appeals to them, is that they are almost impossible to screw up. Water them semi regularly, trim them (WAY) back every winter, spray for aphids, and they just grow.

    loyaltyEasy peasy.

    And then they bloom.

    We also found this wicked cool garden statue (or gnome). It is a meditating dog, and it’s title is “Loyalty”. It is already in our yard, watching over our plants.

    It is a fitting addition to our back yard.

  • Memories of Dad – Photography

    Memories of Dad – Photography

    One of the constants of my youth, and spending time with dad was his camera. Most often, he had a twin lens reflex camera (sadly, I don’t know if it was a Rollieflex, or one of the Japanese variants (like the Mamiya), but I do recall him loading the 120 medium format film, and doing his own developing and printing of black and white.

    Wherever we went, the camera went too. Hiking, to the beach, to the park, or whatnot, we were photographed. (more…)

  • Early Memories of my Father – The Outdoors

    Early Memories of my Father – The Outdoors

    As I continue this trip down memory lane, it is odd the things that stand out from my early memories. Today, I will talk about hiking and spending time outdoors.

    As I mentioned in the first post, we were in Sunnyvale, in the south San Francisco Bay Area. This was before Silicon Valley really rose to prominence, but the early whiffs of the greatness of that movement were in the air. Being in the area meant that we were close to a lot of outdoor recreation, and the population hadn’t grown to the density it is today.

    My dad enjoyed hiking and spending time outdoors. From a very early age, I remember hiking in the Santa Cruz mountains, places like Castle Rock for short trips, or Big Basin park for longer (all day) hikes. Of course now, my memories are fond, but I am sure that I was a complaining tot to have to walk all that distance. (more…)

  • A new series – My Father

    A new series – My Father

    Recently, we gathered in San Diego to celebrate my dad’s 83rd birthday. It was a wonderful weekend, and it was good to get (most) of the family back together. Alas, my father’s cognitive ability is slipping, and while he is accepting of the changes, it is difficult to see and handle.

    While I have some spare time, I am going to begin to document my recollections of growing up, and as much as I can remember.

    I am doing this for myself, and my family, so if the posts get too mundane, I apologize in advance. You have been warned.

    Introduction

    My parents settled in Sunnyvale California when they were first married. The stories I was told indicated that their house was surrounded by fruit orchards at the time, and slowly (or not so slowly) the neighborhood was developed.

    The infamous Blue CubeMy dad worked at Lockheed Missiles and Space in Sunnyvale (near the “Blue Cube”) and was in the computer department there. Of course, computers in the 1960’s were quite a bit different than today, and he worked on all sorts of cool things that he couldn’t talk about, as Lockheed was a defense contractor, and infosec was the name of the game.

    I remember from a young age, on payday, my mother would drive us down to Lockheed, and we would get his paycheck at the gate, and then head to Wells Fargo bank in Sunnyvale to deposit.

    Strange how this flotsam and jetsam of memory associations appear. I hadn’t thought about that in decades, yet it is quite vivid.

    Anyway, I remember the Lockheed open house, one day a year where the family of the employees visit, presumably all classified information was hidden and locked away, and we played primitive computer games, printed ASCII art on their line printers, and were in awe of the latest and greatest acquisition to their computer lab.

    These are fond memories, and I am glad to share. Enough for part one though. Next up – early memories.